His motion to have her replaced by another judge was declared ill-founded by the Higher Regional Court of Düsseldorf on 12 July 2000, on the basis that, in family law matters, judges were entitled to express their opinion to the parties, as long as they remained open to new and better arguments and arrangements.
El 12 de julio de 2000, el Tribunal Regional Superior de Düsseldorf declaró que su moción de sustituir a la juez carecía de fundamento ya que, en cuestiones de derecho de la familia, los jueces estaban facultados para expresar su opinión a las partes, siempre que estuvieran dispuestos a escuchar razones y disposiciones nuevas y mejores.